“We demonstrated in our study that a new antifungal agent, voriconazole, was clearly more effective than amphotericin B.„

For nearly 40 years, amphotericin B has been the standard treatment for invasive aspergillosis. We demonstrated in our study that a new antifungal agent, voriconazole, was clearly more effective than amphotericin B. The superiority of voriconazole over amphotericin B was evident in a higher proportion of patients responding to therapy, and, most importantly, in a far better survival rate. Our study is the first published comparative clinical trial in the field of invasive fungal infections to demonstrate a statistically significant difference in patient survival between treatment arms. Following this trial, voriconazole has become the new standard therapy for invasive aspergillosis, regardless of the site of infection or the patient’s underlying condition. Hematologists, infectious disease specialists, and intensive care physicians have accepted voriconazole as the new standard for invasive aspergillosis. We also showed that it is possible to perform a large randomized study in invasive aspergillosis (this trial is actually the largest ever done, with 391 patients recruited). Our success results from the joint efforts of two groups, the Invasive Fungal Infection Group (IFIG) of the European Organisation for the Research and Treatment of Cancer, and the Global Aspergillus Study Group, driven by North American experts. In total, 95 investigators from 19 countries were involved in the study. All case report forms were reviewed by an independent data review committee where the presence of four expert radiologists was invaluable in assessing both disease at baseline and the response to therapy. In addition, the information collected during the radiological assessments were included in a database, and now offer a unique opportunity to describe the radiological findings of invasive aspergillosis more accurately than has been possible previously. One or more further publications are expected.